Facebook Blocked In Egypt? Rumors Persist, But No Confirmation

Rumors are flying that the Egyptian government is now restricting access to Facebook after blocking Twitter yesterday, according to TechCrunch and sources on Twitter. In Alexandria, @antikano tweets:

FACEBOOK & TWITTER are now FULLY BLOCKED IN EGYPT #Jan25

Blocking FB & TWITTER in EGYPT won't only affect those 2 sites, but it'll affect surfing speed of any website uses dependable plugins #Jan25

However, a complete block has not been confirmed. A Facebook spokesman says the company has not received an unusual number of disruption of service complaints, but that users can monitor the site Herdict.org to keep tabs on complaints, reports cnet.com.

A quick trip over to Herdict shows that more people are reporting Facebook unaccessible than accessible in the country right now. This does not necessarily correlate to a complete block, however.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confronted Egypt today over its violent treatment of protestors, specifically mentioning the media interference. At a press conference, Clinton said:

"We believe strongly that the Egyptian government has an important opportunity at this moment in time to implement political, economic and social reforms to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people," Clinton said in a statement with Jordan's Nasser Judeh at her side.

"We urge the Egyptian authorities not to prevent peaceful protests or block communications including on social media sites," Clinton told reporters in the most blunt comments to date by the United States urging Mubarak to undertake reforms.

For those with Facebook access, the Facebook page We are all Khaled Said is still operating. If you know more about Facebook access in Egypt, email us at [e-mail].

Comments

[latelights]

02:17 PM on 01/27/2011

I am American student living in Cairo, and I can confirm that facebook is blocked on TEDATA and Vodaphone sticks. I've tried seven proxys and none of them are working either!

[Ehab Ebeid]

03:55 PM on 01/27/2011

The best solution is to use hotspot shield or tor browser, google hotspot shield and download it, it works very well here. I'm using firefox and my ISP is TE Data

Greetings from Giza!

[Tina Cairo]

05:19 PM on 01/27/2011

Thanks for sharing that Ehab. I just downloaded hotspot shield http://www.hsselite.com/index.php and managed to access my facebook account finally! I am one of your fans already :)

[nicholasb]

02:15 PM on 01/27/2011

FB blocked in Egypt? Was probably not easy for the Egyptian state security apparatus to learn how to do considering what they have as a neighbor to the east, Israel - whose supporters are always claiming they have such a SUPERIOR knowledge of computer technology lol. Birds of a feather, flock together. And let's hope: birds of a feather, also HANG together.

[Ehab Ebeid]

01:52 PM on 01/27/2011

Yes, facebook is now blocked on TE Data, Egypt's largest service provider. It's been blocked since 20:30 on the 27th. On other service providers it's been on and off since the 25th. I use the Hotspot shield to go on facebook now.

[tymccormick]

12:31 PM on 01/27/2011

I'm in Egypt and cannot get on Facebook. And clearly, since I'm posting here, there is nothing wrong with my Internet.

[nicholasb]

02:17 PM on 01/27/2011

You need to contact someone who can instruct you on how to use a "proxy server". This is the way around it. Good luck, we are praying for you.

[XFilesTheTruthIsOutThere]

10:34 AM on 01/27/2011

First Iran and now Egypt. No matter how much you restrict the imagery of civil unrest within your country, somewhere, somehow the message will find its way to the rest of the world. There's no reason to block social networks like Facebook is you're governing fairly to your citizens.

[Aldo Rodriguez]

08:59 AM on 01/27/2011

I'm seeing a trend here. As soon as one hears that a country (so far Middle Eastern ones) starts shutting down social networks like Facebook and Twitter, it's already of a case of 'too litttle - too late'. The unrest has already begun. The Revolution will not be (just) televised, but 'status updated' and 'twittered'.

[CropCircles]

09:59 PM on 01/26/2011

Odd. This comment thread has been up for three hours, yet there are only 4 posted comments. Is Egypt that unimportant to us? Do we have no interest anymore of the cries for freedom elsewhere on the planet?

[DeloresT]

09:25 PM on 01/26/2011

I am quite concerned. My niece is a student at AUC (American Univ. In Cairo) and she left the states for Cairo yesterday. I wonder if Egyptian University students are involved in the upheaval........needless to say, I hope that she will turn around and head back this way. Safety first.

[purplenote]

10:04 PM on 01/26/2011

Well, my brother's doing a year abroad in Egypt now, too. He says the University's new campus is in New Cairo, a suburb outside the city, and there's a dorm in Zamalek, which is in the city, but that's separated from downtown by the Nile. And remember: Cairo is an ENORMOUS city, so your niece isn't likely even near where this stuff is happening. I hope that eases your worry a bit. It scared me a bit too, with my brother there. But I'm guessing (hoping) that they are both smart enough to be careful.

[XFilesTheTruthIsOutThere]

10:36 AM on 01/27/2011

I hope that's the case for Delores' neice purplenote. I don't enjoy seeing anyone hurt or killed when they want to show their disdain for their country's policies. I will pray for your neice and everyone's safety over in Cairo.

[Kris White]

08:31 PM on 01/26/2011

It is possible people are confusing "down" with "inaccessible due to traffic issues". Ever since Iran, people turn to social networks to keep tabs on uprising .. if there's just more net traffic there because everyone's trying to check, that's a local trunk issue, not Facebook. It's not like everyone has fibre to their house over there.

[andiegroves]

07:49 PM on 01/26/2011

I live in Egypt and Facebook was not blocked at all on the 26th. Maybe It could depend on someone's service provider

[texpat]

07:05 PM on 01/26/2011

I am in Cairo and my facebook has been up and down all day. Was down for several hours until the last few minutes...2:05 AM here in Cairo on January 27th.